I bought a Yeti bottle opener, the kind that bolts to the wall for opening beers & sodas. Looks like any Coca-Cola type opener.

As I was driving home with all my stuff from the hardware store, I was thinking.....geeze, that bill was high. After I installed the opener, I looked at my receipt and discovered that that thing was $40. Holy crap, I didn't look at the price and assumed it was a couple of bucks.

Lazy me, kept it but damm, that was a rip off. Maybe I should buy stock in that company.

Last year when RTIC lost their patent infringement case by Yeti I bought one of their big coolers half price.

The RTIC is beefy heavy and well made. It's about as thick as my Coleman Extreme Marine but heavier and taller. The hinges, latches, handles and seal are all better.

I take at least one week long camping trip every year. We are 4 hours or so from town so we take everything in with us. I can't say for sure that the RTIC holds ice better than the Coleman, they both go 8 days. The RTIC is definitely heavier.

If I was deciding between the two at the same price I would buy the RTIC. If the RTIC was twice as much it would be a tough decision.

In Louisiana the fishing industry uses Yetis a lot. They do a phenomenal job in keeping fresh catch on ice for a much longer period than a standard ice chest. However for the home owner its the name. Logically speaking, your gonna spend $400 to save a $1 bag of ice??

Logically speaking, your gonna spend $80k on a car when a $5k used Honda will go to work too??

Heh. I too have the ~20yo Coleman. Works for me - I just buy a little more ice.

I don't get the brand name though. I've been buying Yeti products for years, ever since they were hand built in Durango, CO. Parenthood has gotten in the way but I slipped in a nice 6" travel <25# full carbon job just before the kid. Coolers and bikes are way more closely related (both outdoorsy) than faucets and airlines (Delta) yet there's no crazy brand name issues? I'll have to see who owns Yeti Cycles - maybe it is part of a huge conglomerate like LVMH?

I see a lot of those stickers here...in Colorado. Always gives me a chuckle. We couldn't be further from a body of salt water. Makes me think I should make stickers that say "Snow Life" then market them to the south coasts. Lol.

I have a couple of Rambler Colsters. Took me 2 years of seeing them at ACE Hardware and thinking "this is overpriced gimmick at $30-"

I broke down this summer when they had them on sale for $25- and I had another -$5 off coupon.

I will say it keeps my regular size can Or bottle of beer nice and cold for extended periods while I am working in the shop.

I'll pass on the $350 cooler though!!

Funny story there... camping a year ago in Sequoia NP and the guy next to us had the "bear proof Yeti cooler". He left it out in plain sight in his campsite...even though there are SIGNS EVERYWHERE saying put all food, coolers, toiletries etc in the provided metal "bear box". Black Bears are active in CA N.P.'S and will break into cars tents etc for food.

So on the evening of day 2 the guy comes over to us and asks if we've been around the site today and did we see who stole his cooler!?
He was visibly irritated/upset.
We hadn't seen anything but suggested he talk to the rangers. Low and behold they had confiscated his "bear proof cooler" mid day since bears had been around the area early that morning. 😄

My BIL is into all that marketing YETI hype. We were all out shopping, and he claimed he "needed" the new big YETI drink holder. This thing will hold like an entire 2L bottle of liquid, and is about 5# by itself, way too big for anything but a table top, and OBTW $79.95.

Of course he bought it, and espoused the virtues of keeping his drink cold for 3 days, along with the other 4 YETI products he alredy has......makes no sense to me.

Got a RTIC thermal 32oz aluminum sippy cup with our company logo printed on it for an anniversary. Have no idea what they cost. Wouldn't have bought one for myself. Would be great if the mouth on it wasn't sooo big. Does keep ice all day long, without the lid and including adding water. The mouth of it is just too big to drink out of. Dribble on myself or down the side if not using a straw. Even if using the sippy cup lid. They would be really nice cups if they were just tapered up like a regular ice tea glass instead of getting bigger like a big gulp.

I bought a YETI cooler at the start of the year. my wife and I went to yosemite national park this summer and camped out of the back of the 4runner for 5 days without going into town. the cooler kept ice for the 5 days, even with us adding water bottles each day. it was also sturdy enough to sit & stand on over and over again.
was it worth it? idk, but it will be the last cooler I will ever buy. the things is damn strong and the bear proof isn't a bad thing. its kinda like comparing a GEO to a Toyota. yeah the old geo will get you there, the Toyota just does it better.

Looks like they filmed that video in somebody's back yard retaining pond.

Yeti stickers are right up there with "salt life" stickers.

This guy gets it!

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Well i had #6 adjusted perfectly but then just before i tightened it a butterfly in Zimbabwe farted and now i have to start all over again!
I believe we all make mistakes but I will not validate your poor choices and/or perversions and subsidize the results your actions.

Honestly the solid feel and textures of yeti coolers imply quality and it's hard to not be curious about them.

I would say they make as much sense and appeal to the same ideals as a Mercedes. Overbuilt to no real benefit, overpriced in the extreme yet they just feel good to operate.

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Well i had #6 adjusted perfectly but then just before i tightened it a butterfly in Zimbabwe farted and now i have to start all over again!
I believe we all make mistakes but I will not validate your poor choices and/or perversions and subsidize the results your actions.

I agree Nick, I see those stickers all the time and I still think it looks like they say "Slut Life", so I chuckle.

I have a smaller Grizzly cooler (still made in the US of A) that I put in the back of my Polaris Razor when we go on all day rides. Since it is sitting right above the engine, it was cooking the other coolers. The Grizzly will keep ice in it all day, and we have done all day rides.

But otherwise I have some big white igloo coolers that just need ice added to them every once in a while. Plus I can go on Amazon and get new hinges etc. for cheap.

The Yeti's/Grizzly/Cabella's ones are built pretty burly though. I got a Yeti Tumbler and Beer holder from a client, and damn they do keep drinks cold / your hands not cold in the winter holding them, but I would guess all of them like that do.